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The Brightest Star by B. Cranford

It’s time once again for the KU Sunday Spotlight, brought to you by KU Book Reviews + One-Click Addict Support Group, but this is a special week. In honor of the debut novel by our very own Beth, there is a single review: my Buy It review of The Brightest Star by B. Cranford! Enjoy!

RATING: BUY IT
There’s no way I could write this review without telling you what a massive fan I am of the author. She is smart, kind, genuine, loyal and funny AF. She was one of the first bloggers to lend a hand to a newbie, yours truly, and answered all of my questions—and there were many. She has always been one of my biggest champions and, as so many of you know, she is also a blogger here on KU Book Reviews. “She” is B. Cranford and The Brightest Star is her debut novel. That all said, trust me when I say that this is a spectacular novel and you will be hard-pressed to believe this is anyone’s debut attempt.

The story of Brighton + Sebastian, The Brightest Star is like nothing I’ve ever read. When we meet them, it is two years after Sebastian betrayed Brighton and her trust. I’ll let you read and discover for yourself how they got there, but what I found so fascinating about this book was what a risk it was. To start off from a place of betrayal and then take them on a journey towards reconciliation is no easy feat.

How does one find trust again? Can one trust again? Trust is the foundation of any relationship—how can it ever be rebuilt? And how, as a writer, do you take a reader on that journey and keep them sympathetic to the one who betrayed, while also finding an understanding for the one who forgives? It is such a delicate balance and B. Cranford never misses a beat. Oftentimes, I would find myself thinking, “I wonder why she doesn’t say this or ask that,” or “why did he do that or leave that that way?” And inevitably, those questions would be answered in a way that either I hadn’t thought of or I didn’t expect. But always in a way that made sense. It felt so intentional, yet so seamless—fresh, honest, painful at times, laugh-out-loud funny {much-needed moments of relief throughout} and insightful.

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

A saying we’ve all heard a million times, yet something so many of us have difficulty doing in our own lives. In The Brightest Star, we are shown that path to divinity. We are taught that sometimes, the greatest gift we could ever give ourselves is the forgiveness of others.

I will never be able to capture how moved I was by this story. Not only by Sebastian + Brighton, but by all of those that surround these two. I felt like I could touch each and every one of them. Oh, and Declan, Sebastian’s best friend? I could use a big, BIG dose of him! Book two for B. Cranford? A girl can hope!